Nissan switches on huge, crowd-funded solar roof at Dutch car plant

Japanese auto maker Nissan has switched on a massive, and partly crowd-funded, commercial rooftop solar system at one of its car parts plants in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands.

The 9,000-panel system installed across the rooftops of Nissan Motor Parts Center (pictured above) will produce enough renewable electricity to power up to 900 households a year, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

(Editor’s Note: One Step Off The Grid is awaiting confirmation from Nissan Europe of the collective capacity of the rooftop solar system, and will update the story when the information is at hand.)

It will also significantly reduce the facility’s CO2 output and produce almost 70 per cent of the plant’s annual energy demand, while also feeding a portion of the electricity generated directly in to the country’s national grid.

Notably, the automaker – which produces one of the world’s top-selling electric vehicles, the recently upgraded Nissan Leaf – financed part of the Dutch PV project through a crowdfunding initiative via ZonnepanelenDelen, or solar bonds.

A total of 200,000 shares could be bought at a cost of €25 per bond, which covered a 15-year yield based on the amount of solar generated and the current electricity prices. The yield will also be paid out annually.

According to reports, crowdfunding had already exceeded its €500,000 target by the end of November last year, with more than two months left to go.

The remaining €3.2 million for the rooftop solar project was raised through the ASN Bank and the sustainability fund of the borough of Amsterdam.

“Investing in and integrating new energy solutions is a cornerstone of Nissan Intelligent Mobility and this project is a clear demonstration that we not only strive to transform the way you drive, but also the way you live,” said Nissan Energy managing director Francisco Carranza in comments this week.

Koen Maes, the managing director of Nissan Benelux said Amsterdam was one of the most forward-thinking cities in Europe.

“This project is perfectly suited to Nissan’s endeavours to make mobility smarter and more sustainable,” he said in comments this time last year.

“That’s why we are working on sustainable energy production and on projects such as energy storage in used batteries, vehicles which return energy to the network and car sharing. The solar roof is one of the cornerstones.”

Also in Amsterdam, Nissan has co-developed a project 3MW storage system at the Johan Cruijff Arena using 148 Nissan new and second-life LEAF EV batteries.